Crushes of Heaven
by thecivilunrest
Summary: The arms of the ocean delivered me. For Wally/Artemis Week.


**Fandom: **Young Justice

**Story Title: **"Crushes of Heaven"

**Summary: **The arms of the ocean delivered me. For Wally/Artemis Week.

**Character/Relationship(s): **Wally West/Artemis Crock

**Rating: **K+

**Warnings: **None.

**Story Word Count: **1000+

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything.

**Notes: **Oh God I'm so sorry for this.

_Crushes of Heaven_

The bed is empty without her there.

A lump grows in his throat when he realizes that he'd been reaching for something that wasn't there, his hands grasping at air.

The sheets on her side of the bed are cold, and he wishes that they hadn't taught the dog to sleep on the couch so that he can have some warmth. But instead he rolls over and brings his arms around himself, trying to keep it all together.

.

The bed is empty without him there.

Not that he would have fit anyway, Black Manta gave them what could be considered a cot at best, and she knows that she's lucky to have even that.

People surround her, their combined heat sometimes overpowering the room that they are all stuck in. She can hear them breathing, and knows that she's not alone, but she feels like she is.

Artemis misses Wally so badly that it hurts sometimes, like there's a hole in her chest that she can't fill up. The lack of him leaves an ache, and she's not sure what to do to stop the hurt.

She knows that she's doing a good thing here, that she's being a hero and in the long run she is going to save more people than would ever be able to thank her. But she misses the physical part of being a hero, the part where she kicks and punches and has a team to surround and support her.

The undercover and the waiting was always the hardest for her.

.

He tries to go about business as usual.

Wally goes to class every day, goes to his internship and is bored to tears. He hangs out with his friends and tells them that Artemis went to Gotham to visit her mother, who's sick. (She might very well be, after having been told that her daughter has died. He doesn't know. He hasn't been able to call her yet.)

He pretends every day like the duplex where he lives isn't too empty and dark for him now, like doesn't pretend that she's just in the bathroom or in the other room studying just to make things easier.

He starts to sleep in the living room. It's better than being in their bed alone.

.

She tries to go about business as usual.

It's hard, because she's not sure what business is supposed to _be _here, but she goes along as best she can. She glares at the guards, comforts the younger kids, and checks the necklace that Dick gave her every few hours just to make sure that it's still around her neck.

Sometimes she sees Kaldur, in passing, and he's unrecognizable to her. He's the person that stabbed her to death, the one that sides with Black Manta. She misses her friend, has missed him for years, but he's as undercover as she is and can't do anything about it.

.

He gets messages from her sometimes.

They don't come often, but he grabs them and never lets them go anyway. Just in case one day they don't come at all. He wants to be able to take them out and read them, over and over again. It helps.

Nightwing delivers them to him, he's the only one that can contact Kaldur and he only does that every few months. It burns to know that they have to get in contact through other people, but if it's the only way he'll take it.

The messages are usually short.

_Doing great, babe._

_Don't forget to study. _

_Feed the dog._

_Don't worry. _

_I love you_.

He sends her similar ones in return, telling her not to get killed and to look away when she lies. And that he loves her. He hopes she doesn't forget that.

.

She gets messages from him, sometimes.

They're short, and they make her smile when she has no other reason to do so. She rips them all up, so that no one can find them. She has to. It's better that way.

Kaldur looks so tired when he gives them to her that she wishes that she could do something, but she can't. Artemis is lucky that she can get them at all.

Really, she doesn't know what she would do if Kaldur wasn't such a good person.

.

The months start to stack up on top of each other, one by one.

Every day is another day closer to getting his degree, to getting Artemis back.

He starts putting on the costume more and more. To run at full speed is a rush, and he has to admit that he's missed it.

Missing Artemis is still an ache that won't heal, but he gets used to it. He hardly feels it anymore, except when he sees pictures of the two of them on the wall and at two in the morning when it throbs and reminds him that he's all alone.

.

The months start to stack up on top of each other, one by one.

She remembers that she's fighting the good fight. This is what she always wanted to do, has always wanted to do, will always try to do no matter what.

She misses Wally, so badly that sometimes she just shuts her eyes and tries not to cry. Absence_ makes the heart grow fonder_ is such crap, she thinks, because she doesn't love him more. She can't. But she longs for him more, and that makes all the difference.

.

He sees her first.

They've waited a long time for this, too long really. The hole in his heart heals up as soon as he glances at her face. Then he's coming at her full speed.

She laughs when he picks her up and he has missed that, missed that, missed that so badly that it hurts. He's so glad to have her back.

He kisses her, reminiscent to their first kiss only there's less hesitancy now. He kisses her and she kisses him back and he never wants to let her go.

.

She sees him first.

There's a sea of people between them, the Team really has gotten huge, but they had the real sea between them once so nothing can stop her now.

She barely starts moving towards him before he notices her and scoops her up in his arms.

Artemis laughs. She's missed this, missed him, missed _them_.

"Glad you're back," he tells her finally.

"It's good to be back."

And it is.


End file.
